A 'Spelling Bee' set to music at Exeter High

Drama club takes on musical comedy

EXETER — The Exeter High School auditorium has been decorated with new banners depicting the Putnam Piranhas and welcoming the audience to its upcoming spring musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

EXETER — The Exeter High School auditorium has been decorated with new banners depicting the Putnam Piranhas and welcoming the audience to its upcoming spring musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

"It's a spelling bee, so there's six students competing for the right to go to Washington (D.C.)," said Director and 2007 EHS alumnus Evan Mousseau. "... Over the course of the show, you come to root for each one of the participants."

The musical focuses on these six competitors as they face pressure from their peers, parents and other adults "who barely managed to escape childhood themselves," according to the show's Web site.

"It's a simple show, but it's a show I think a lot of students can relate to," Mousseau said. "... It's not too much of a jump for the kids to come in and jump into character."

Katie Zampini, a senior, said she loves how each character has "a lot of background." She will play the youngest spelling bee competitor Logainne SchwartzandGrubenierre, who has two dads, including one who pressures her to spell well. She described the show as being for all ages, but with some adult humor.

In addition to the six competing students there are four guest spellers. While these guests are usually audience volunteers, the EHS version of the show will have four teachers brought in for the first act.

"That will be great for high school students, getting to recognize teacher volunteers," Zampini said.

The students will perform the musical at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, each with a different set of jokes and volunteers.

"It's going to be best to come both nights," said senior Richard Sousa, who will play Vice Principal Panch.

Principal Sean Kiley — who was recently chosen to be a principal in Winchester, Mass. and will leave Exeter in July — will be one of the guest spellers in Friday night's performance.

The words will also change each night, including everything from capybara, a South American rodent, to the word Mexican. Some of the volunteer teachers will get easy words, while some will get more difficult words.

"Those moments will obviously be embarrassing and funny," Sousa said.

Mousseau said he thinks the cast has had a relatively smooth process compared to other shows he has been involved with. He also told the cast, before they started the dress rehearsal, to treat each past performance "as your competition," and to get better with each run.

"This is one of the most talented groups I've seen perform here in a while," he said.

Sousa said that he is proud of the steps the cast has made, including adding microphones and the live band on Monday's dress rehearsal.

"I'm proud of our progress, but you can never have too much practice," he said.

Zampini said "this is the most ready" she has been for a show, but freshman Chance Taylor, who was used to five months of preparation time in middle school, said the transition to two and a half months of preparation has "been very stressful."

The rest of the cast, however, has been there to support him after he moved from Greenland and made friends through the musical.

"We've gotten close as a cast," Zampini said. "It's probably the closest a cast I've been in."

The cast has also come together to get ready by talking to each other in their characters' voices and mannerisms, including Taylor's character, a boy named William Barfée, which he clarifies during the show as pronounced "Bar-fay" and not "Barfy".

"This is my natural habitat," he said. "When I've had a really awful day I can just come here and let it all out."